A Spreadsheet Approach To Teaching Numerical Methods For Steady And Unsteady Heat Transfer

A unified method for teaching steady (using Gauss-Seidel) and unsteady (using Explicit) numerical methods for conduction heat transfer using a spreadsheet (Excel TM ) is described. This method makes use of the similarity between nodes in numerical heat transfer and cells in a spreadsheet. Extensive use is made of the electrical analogy for heat transfer in the difference equations. Students program in the difference equations and the boundary conditions in a template provided to them. Students prepare their own macros for the iteration schemes. The versatility of the spreadsheet approach allows spatially and temporally dependent boundary conditions which in turn permits almost immediate applications to engineering design including optimization. Steady heat transfer applications have included fins for electronic and engine cooling. Unsteady heat transfer applications have included the design of automobile and aircraft disk brakes. The advantage of this approach is that students prepare their own numerical model, which enhances understanding of the numerical methods and boundary conditions, explore convergence and stability criteria, and move quickly into thermal design studies using the numerical tool that they have developed.